Top exchange capping fees for some exotic U.S. ETF listings

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The top listing venue for U.S. exchange-traded funds is capping the fees it charges asset managers for a category of exotic products that can be the hardest to bring to market, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission disclosure this week.

A trader passes by a screen that displays the trading info for Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (ICE) on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) March 1, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Intercontinental Exchange Inc’s (ICE.N) NYSE Arca outlined plans to cap at $22,500 the maximum fee it will charge on a given issuer to list funds that require additional scrutiny from regulators, the filings showed.

Some of the most attention-grabbing ETF proposals this year have required a special look by regulators, including efforts to build products tracking bitcoin and “leveraged” funds aiming to deliver four times the return of the stock market on a given day.

The fee cap applies to issuers bringing three or more funds and other exchange-traded products (ETPs) to market in a single year. A small subset of ETPs do not qualify for expedited approval and require a special rule under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

A NYSE spokeswoman declined to comment.

In its disclosure late on Monday, the SEC said the NYSE wants to change the fees because it will help more new ETPs coming to market and increase competition between fund managers.

ETFs are absorbing an increasing share of market activity, and listing them is valuable to exchanges hoping to win more trading volume and also sell data.

More value is exchanged each day in the top ETFs like the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY.P) and iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM.P) than in most stocks.

NYSE Arca exchange is home to more than two thirds of the more than 2,000 U.S.-listed ETFs, but competitors have been aggressively trying to win away issuers and traders.

BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) in June announced it would move 50 of its ETFs from NYSE Arca to CBOE Holdings Inc’s (CBOE.O) Bats exchange and Nasdaq Inc (NDAQ.O). Bats charges no listing fees at all.